Raloxifene protects against seizures and neurodegeneration in a mouse model mimicking epilepsy in postmenopausal woman

Epilepsy in menopausal women presents several challenges in the treatment including an increased risk of seizures due to hormone replacement therapy. We investigated the hypothesis if raloxifene, a selective oestrogen receptor modulator, could be employed to prevent behavioural seizures and morphological alterations in a mouse model mimicking epilepsy in postmenopausal women. Female mice were made ovotoxic by treatment with 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) to mimic a postmenopausal state. They were then subjected to kainic acid (KA)-induced seizures and neurotoxicity, as assessed by microscopic examination of hippocampus, relevant to human temporal lobe epilepsy. VCD administration (for 15 days followed by a drug-free period of 30 days) induced ovotoxicity in mice as evidenced by reduced number of primary ovarian follicles. This was accompanied by a 62.4% reduction in serum oestradiol levels. The bone mineral density of ovotoxic mice, however, remained unaffected. Raloxifene (8 mg/kg) reduced the seizure severity score in both normal and ovotoxic mice and protected against degeneration induced by KA in the CA3, CA1 sub-fields and hilus of the DG. Hippocampal TGF-β3 levels were not affected by any of the treatments. We show the potential protective role of raloxifene in preventing seizures and neuronal damage in a mouse model mimicking epilepsy in postmenopausal women which was found unrelated to hippocampal TGF-β3. Raloxifene might represent a novel therapeutic option for postmenopausal temporal lobe epileptic woman.

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